Category: Xbox News

Starting at 2:00 p.m. PDT today, members of the Xbox One Preview Beta and a subset of the Delta Ring will begin receiving the latest Xbox One system update (1806.180618-2044). We are adding more Delta users with this release as we are targeting the upgrade process and will move the remaining set of Delta users in over the next few days as we flight new builds to test the upgrade process. Read on for more about the fixes and known issues in the latest 1806 system update.

New Features:

FastStart

Xbox One Insiders we have added the FastStart technology in the build and we would love your help testing the install performance of various games listed below.  In addition we have posted a support article on FastStart here for reference : https://support.xbox.com/en-US/games/game-titles/fast-start-games : 

A Quest and Survey is provided for feedback!

NOTE: If you do not see that the title is FastStart enabled for these titles, it may either your console is not set to English or that the publisher manages separate versions of the title and we don’t yet have enough data for the one for your region.

Fixes:

Audio:

• Fixes are in the build to resolve audio dropouts that users have been experiencing. This fix focuses on Video app audio dropouts that have impacted apps such as Amazon, Netflix streaming and Games such as Minecraft.  Atmos HDMI users who own Denon AVRs have been experiencing these drops should not see this behavior anymore.

 Friends

• We have resolved the issues in which some users noticed that the online status of Friends was not updating correctly.

Game Clips:

• The Trim feature used the Y button to allow the user to save their trimmed clip and issues resulted with this input.  There are times that the Y button is not available and thus the search functionality is invoked by mistake. We have changed the key mapping as well as the icon mapping on the page to show the X button.

Groups:

• Users should no longer see the Groups tab in My games & apps may not show after sign in. You should no longer see “This group does not exist” on Home on first sign-in for your existing Groups.
• Fixed an issue in which some changes were not be reflected when editing Groups between multiple consoles after coming out of connected standby.
• Fixed the issue to enable using special characters in Group names (e.g. &,”).

My Games and Apps

• Fixed an issue that some users where experiencing with game installations and DLC failing randomly.
• Fine tuned the Toast notifications when installing a title that supports Fast Start

Looking for Groups

• Fixed an issue in which some users would not see any Groups returned when querying for a certain title.

Localization

• Various localization fixes across the console.

Store App

• A new version of the store app is available that resolves the crash to home that some users were experiencing.
• Some users experienced a “Try that again” in the Store app and that is fixed.

System Performance

• Misc. performance fixes in the platform.

YouTube

• The issue with some users are encountering an issue with the Youtube app stuttering is being resolved by YouTube with an app update.

Known Issues:

Groups

• Some users may encounter an issue where their Pins are not displaying artwork or are seeing a while tile instead of their profile color

o Workaround: Please perform the following steps to fix the issue

1. Open My Games & Apps
2. Navigate to Groups tab
3. Scroll to the bottom of the page
4. Select Delete all groups
5. Select Delete local groups

• You may see issues with Groups if you frequently switch between your non-Preview console and your Preview console. Workaround: Reset your Groups locally on the Preview console through “My games & apps” > Groups, then using the “Reset groups” button at the bottom of the page to resync from the service.

Profile Color

• Sometimes users may encounter an incorrect Profile color when powering on the console.

Networking

• Work continues on the stability of the Wi-Fi connectivity.  If you see any issues please report the problem for investigation by performing a Full system software via the dashboard as opposed to just pressing the Xbox Power button.

Rumored for years but finally confirmed at E3 2017, Ubisoft’s space pirate opera Beyond Good & Evil 2 has long been atop gamer wish lists. And for good reason: the 2003 original was an instant cult classic, earning several Game of the Year awards on the strength of its incredible storytelling and memorable characters. Players patiently waited for news of its follow-up – Beyond Good & Evil was initially planned as a trilogy – but for well over a decade, a sequel existed only in the minds of passionate fans.

Based on a guided demo at E3 2018, however, we can confirm that Beyond Good & Evil 2 is not only real, it’s one of the most ambitious video games ever conceived. Directed by design guru Michel Ancel, the massive action-adventure gives players a virtual universe to explore, blending together several game genres to create something wholly new.

The game is set in System 3, a galaxy populated by humans and human-animal hybrids. Dominant megacorporations have a vested interest in using the hybrids as slave labor. As a pirate, your character chooses to fight back against this oppressive regime by tracking down a mysterious artifact called the Moksha Gate, which, according to legend, will help the hybrids attain freedom.

Starting out in the bustling Ganesha City on the planet Soma, the demo highlighted Beyond Good & Evil 2’s co-operative play (it can also be played solo) as two space pirates infiltrated a temple to stop a crew of evil mercenaries experimenting on a hybrid monkey. Every player will wield a gun, sword, shield, and jetpack to zip around the battlefield, using special abilities to slow down time, repulse, or outright paralyze opponents. Players can also use a spyglass to gather intel about enemy augments, class, and even their job proficiency. Need a mechanic to help repair your pirate spaceship? Use your spyglass to hunt for potential recruits.

A short battle later and our heroes had freed the hybrid monkey, hopped onto vehicles – a spaceship and a flying motorcycle – and zoomed away to explore the wide-open space of Ganesha City. The enormous metropolis is a vertical playground, buildings soaring to the sky as spaceships, hoverbikes, and jetpacking citizens go about their daily business.

We fly by some people painting a huge mural of Ganesh, but that art may change based on the community’s contributions. Through a partnership with Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s hitRecord crowdsourcing platform, Ubisoft will let players help build out the world by submitting art and music ideas.

As one character admired the mural, the other was off dogfighting with the local police. Players can customize every aspect of their ships, tinkering with gear, modules, cosmetics, cabins, wings, energy, weapons, decals and more. We quickly learned that the slick, nimble fighters were just appetizers, however, when the heroes flew up and out of Ganesha City entirely, breaking through its atmosphere to enter orbit and rendezvous with the player’s substantially larger pirate mothership.

Donning a spacesuit, one character exited his ship to float around in space. Scanning Soma with the spyglass at this distance yielded more generalized information about the planet’s resources and politics. Looking away from Ganesha City, we spotted a giant, mysterious geoglyph on a different continent. Zooming out further hammered home the sheer size of Soma – all of it explorable – but it gets even bigger. System 3 contains several planets, each with its own cities and glyphs and mountains and deserts.

And astoundingly, it’s all one seamless world. From the bowels of the temple to the outer reaches out of the galaxy, Beyond Good & Evil 2’s world is an unbroken, connected play space. We never saw a load screen during our demo.

Of course, incomprehensible size only matters if it contains meaning, and Ubisoft is slyly keeping Beyond Good & Evil 2’s more granular details under wraps. How do we recruit crewmembers? How much is there to do on each planet? What exactly happened to former protagonist Jade? How big is it, really? We’ll doubtlessly learn more about this enthralling, interstellar adventure in the coming months.

If you’ve played the previous game, Warhammer: End Times – Vermintide, you’ll know that there’s more strategy to the game than one might think. In celebration of Vermintide 2’s beta launch on Xbox One, we have gathered some tips and tricks to give you an edge before you charge headfirst into battle.

Dodging and Blocking

Though it may seem like obvious advice, it is crucial in a fight that you learn how and when to dodge and block. Make sure you are light on your feet with the sliding movement (press X whilst moving sideways or backwards to slide) and practice your positioning to reduce the amount of damage you take. This is especially important during fights against hordes where you run the risk of being outmaneuvered if you let the enemies surround and trap you. Also, keep your guard up when you’re being attacked to avoid a considerable amount of damage to your health.

The Greater the Risk, the Greater the Reward

There are several ways to improve your chances of receiving better loot as you play. Scattered across every level are tomes and grimoires hidden away in various nooks and crannies that you’ll have to find. These items boost the quality of your loot chest at the end of the game. Some are harder to find than others, so be sure to stay observant.

Tomes take up a healing slot, which means that you’ll be blocked from carrying healing items. In turn, grimoires will lock a portion of the whole team’s health bars. This ultimately means that you’ll be progressing through the map with less health, so consider if your team is up for the challenge before picking one of these up.

Bonus tip: If you’re lucky, you may happen upon a Loot Die that will improve the quality of your loot. It’s entirely random where you might find them but check any crates and chests you see. Oh, and don’t forget to kill any Sack Rats — they carry them, too!

Keep Your Ears Peeled

There are many sound cues in Vermintide 2 that may alert you of various enemy spawns. Not only do special enemy types have certain sound cues when they’ve spawned, or are preying on your team, but the hero characters themselves may also call out a horde, or if an enemy is flanking a teammate. Listen closely and you’ll learn to identify each threat as they close in on you before it’s too late.

Cooperation is Key

Vermintide 2 was created and designed to be played together with friends. This becomes especially true in the higher difficulties of the game where friendly fire and positioning are core elements of gameplay. Communicating over voice chat is perhaps the most efficient way of maintaining a strategy in your team. Calling out enemies with high priority, choosing which path to take, and warning one another of sudden danger are all instances where you must communicate with your team in order to make it out alive.

These are just a few tips for how you can sharpen your skill in preparation for the beta, going live today on June 20. If you haven’t signed up yet for the Warhammer: Vermintide 2 Beta, you can do so by clicking here.

See you in Helmgart!

At this year’s E3, PC hardware partners Lenovo and Dell both announced new gaming devices powered by Windows 10 that join the PC gaming mix, all ready to go with built-in Mixer streaming for low-latency, interactive moments for viewers and streamers to engage with other gamers. Remember, a mobile gaming PC can be a great companion for staying in touch with your save games when on the move; with Xbox Play Anywhere, you can buy a game once and play it on both your Xbox One and any of these Windows 10 PCs – picking up your saved games right where you left off, whether switching from console to PC or the other way around!

First up, a rundown of Lenovo hardware:

Lenovo Legion Y530 Laptop

Between 24.2mm to 25.2mm thin and 2.3 kg light, up to the latest generation Intel processors, NVIDIA GPUs, DDR4 memory and more, the Lenovo Legion Y530 Laptop is thermally optimized to run cooler and quieter while balancing between performance and portability.

The 15″ FHD display with optional 144 Hz and 300 nits of brightness, as well as a full-sized white backlit keyboard offering under 1ms input response time, make the Lenovo Legion Y530 Laptop primed for gaming virtually anywhere life takes you.

Lenovo Legion Y730 Laptop

Weighing 2.9kg and between 21.95mm to 24.05mm thin, the larger 17-inch Lenovo Legion Y730 Laptop features the latest in gaming technology from Intel and NVIDIA wrapped in expertly crafted all-aluminum materials, plus more than 16 million color combinations and lighting effects visible from its CORSAIR iCUE RGB backlit keyboard for the ultimate customizable gaming experience.

It arrives in both a 17″ FHD display as well as a 15” FHD display option, with optional 144 Hz and 300 nits of brightness.

Lenovo Legion T530

Meet the Lenovo Legion T530, a 28-liter gaming tower redesigned from the ground up to deliver a bold new look that houses up to the latest Intel gaming processors, discrete graphics, DDR4 memory, PCIe SSD storage and dual-channel cooling, all with a red system lighting.

In addition to up to 8th Generation Intel Core i7 processors, up to NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 GPUs, up to 32GB DDR4 memory and up to PCIe SSD storage, the Lenovo Legion T530 was engineered to eliminate heat via its innovative dual-channel thermal system and features a tool-free upgrade system with an integrated top carry handle for convenient portability.

Lenovo Legion T730

This 28-liter desktop tower gives you both style and power thanks to a customizable internal and external RGB system lighting, a transparent side panel, optional liquid cooling, up to 8th Generation Intel Core processors, NVIDIA GeForce GPUs, optional Corsair Vengeance DDR4 memory, and more to completely immerse you in your favorite titles and overclock for the win.

Lenovo Legion C730

This 19-liter gaming PC has all the hardware you need for a breathtakingly immersive gaming experience. Up to the latest Intel processing, NVIDIA GPUs, and optional overclocked CORSAIR DDR4 memory, all housed in a chassis featuring a dual-channel thermal system with optional RGB system lighting and transparent top panel, come together to deliver a truly evolved design that looks amazing in virtually any room.

The Lenovo Legion C730 was engineered to eliminate heat via its dual-channel thermal system and the full internal RGB system lighting delivers more than 16.8 million color combinations and effects.

Lenovo Legion C530

The 19-liter Lenovo Legion C530 offers you tower-level gaming in a more portable design. It arrives with up to 8th Generation Intel Core processors, NVIDIA GeForce GPUs, DDR4 memory, up to PCIe SSD storage, and more. The C530 was designed for effortless upgrading of your system’s hardware via a one-press accessibility system and integrated top carry handle – all engineered to eliminate heat via its dual-channel thermal system.

Visit the Lenovo Newsroom to learn more about all of the PC gaming hardware introduced this week at E3. Additionally, Dell shared a handful of gaming hardware and other announcements that PC gamers everywhere can get excited about. Here’s a breakdown of Dell PC gaming news from E3 2018:

Alienware Wireless Gaming Headset

The Alienware Wireless Gaming Headset is for diehards demanding game-dominating audiophile detail.

• Enhance game performance with 7.1 Virtual Surround Sound, wider frequency response and acoustic signature, augmented by high-fidelity 40mm Neodymium drivers to deliver deep rich bass and an expansive soundscape.
• Designed for clear natural voice quality, in solo and multiplayer situations, the headset lets players position the mic nearer their mouth to cut background noise, with a Game/Chat volume mixer and built-in voice notifications for battery life and wireless connectivity.
• Durable yet lightweight, the headset is distinguished by a wide flexible headband engineered for snug fit and extreme comfort, with all controls within the reach of one finger.
• Rotatable, sports-fabric earcups keep players cool and focused, especially for marathon gaming. Alienware fans will appreciate the iconic design elements, including animated LED head & tron lights and click-and-play customizable AlienFX™ per-game light settings.

Alienware Elite Gaming Mouse (available July)

Alienware gets the importance an input device can have on your gaming performance. And to support, their new iconic Alienware design with premium materials puts more control in gamers’ hands to play longer with advanced ergonomic engineering with two redesigned interchangeable right wings and 3-position palm rest for virtually any grip. With four configurable 5-gram weight adjustments, gamers have ultimate control over cursor precision and movement speed, enhanced by five configurable levels for on-the-fly DPI switching based on the need for speed or precision.

Better efficiency also comes from 9 to 11 programmable buttons with 512k onboard memory for in-game customization, ideal for tailored configurations and more detailed setups. Further personalizing the immersive experience with AlienFX™ lighting, which supports over 130 games with unique themes to personalize a dynamic look to reflect the gamers’ style. Available in the U.S. in July.

Inspiron Gaming Desktop with AMD

With an emphasis on strong performance and future-proof expandability at an accessible price, the new Inspiron Gaming Desktop (5676) handles the latest gaming titles with ease.

• Plenty of muscle and split-second responsiveness derive from the latest AMD Ryzen Pinnacle Ridge processors (up to 8 core, 16-thread), the highest multiprocessing, multitasking performance gamers can get on a mainstream desktop PC, featuring Sense MiX FR technology to optimize power consumption, task routing and clock speeds, whether for PC gaming, virtual reality or content creation.
• Other benefits include a USB Type-C 3.1 port, up to six USB 3.0 ports, optional dual-drive, high-capacity hard drive, responsive SSD and up to five bays for future storage upgrades. Polar Blue LED lighting and a striking chassis design infuses the Inspiron Gaming Desktop with visual excitement. Available initially in Australia, New Zealand, China and South Korea mid-June.

Looking for more PC gaming hardware recently announced? Visit the Windows Blog for even more recent PC gaming hardware reveals by Acer, HP, Razer and MSI.

Starting at 2:00 p.m. PDT today, members of the Xbox One Preview Beta and a subset of the Delta Ring will begin receiving the latest Xbox One system update (1806.180612-1920). We are adding more Delta users with this release as we are targeting the upgrade process and will move the remaining set of Delta users in over the next few weeks as we flight new builds to test the upgrade process. Read on for more about the fixes and known issues in the latest 1806 system update.

New Feature and Help wanted!

Fast Start  – Xbox One Insiders we have added the Fast Start technology in the build and we would love your help testing the install performance of the following games:

• The Flame in the Flood
• Fuzion Frenzy
• Screamride
• Spelunky
• Casey Powell Lacrosse 16
• Dovetail Games Euro Fishing
• The Golf Club

We will light up a Quest and Survey on Monday for feedback!

Fixes:

My Games and Apps

• Fixed an issue for Games that are being updated that use the Fast Start feature.  Users will no longer have the game uninstalled if they cancel a game update.
• Fixed an issue with the installation and launching of the CW app.  The app now launches correctly.

Localization

• Various localization fixes across the console.

Party Chat

• Performance improvements to the stability and reliability of Party Chat.

System Performance

• Misc. performance fixes in the platform.

 YouTube

• The issue with some users are encountering an issue where their YouTube account is being signed out whenever they launch the app is resolved.

Known Issues:

Friends

• Some users may notice that the online status of Friends is not updating correctly.

Groups

• Some users may encounter an issue where their Pins are not displaying artwork or are seeing a while tile instead of their profile color.
• Workaround: Please perform the following steps to fix the issue
  • Open My Games & Apps
  • Navigate to Groups tab
  • Scroll to the bottom of the page
  • Select Delete all groups
  • Select Delete local groups
• The Groups tab in My games & apps may not show after sign in even though you can access Groups in Guide, or you may see “This group does not exist” on Home on first sign-in for your existing Groups. Workaround: Sign in / out to refresh these pages.
• Some changes might not be reflected when editing Groups between multiple consoles after coming out of connected standby. Sign in/out to fix.
• Using special characters in Group names (e.g. &,”) causes issues during Group creation or using the “Add more” flow. Note: emojis are fine. This is being fixed in an upcoming build.
• You may see issues with Groups if you frequently switch between your non-Preview console and your Preview console. Workaround: Reset your Groups locally on the Preview console through “My games & apps” > Groups, then using the “Reset groups” button at the bottom of the page to resync from the service.

Profile Color

• Sometimes users may encounter an incorrect Profile color when powering on the console.

Networking

• Work continues on the stability of the Wi-Fi connectivity. If you see any issues please report the problem for investigation by performing a Full system software via the dashboard as opposed to just pressing the Xbox Power button.

YouTube

• Some users are encountering an issue where their YouTube account is being signed out whenever they launch the app.
  • Workaround: Uninstall/re-install the app and sign in with your account again.

Welcome to Next Week on Xbox, where we cover all the new games coming soon to Xbox One! Every week the team at Xbox aims to deliver quality gaming content for you to enjoy on your favorite gaming console. Read on below and click on each of the game profiles for pre-order details (dates are subject to change).

Games

June 19, 2018

A third-person action-RPG that tells the story of a man without a name, an immortal being cursed to walk the world until the end of time. When a shadow of his past rises again in his path, he will be forced to take part in a conflict in which our very existence is in question.

Games

June 19, 2018

In this unique action adventure game, play as Haimrik, a young writer trying to make a living in a medieval town full of warriors, sorcerers, and dragons. With the help of Masamba, a hungry lioness, he’ll venture out to take on the evil king and his elite generals, the Word Warriors as you make words come to life in this humorous action adventure game.

Games

June 20, 2018

Xbox One X Enhanced – Solve puzzles by stretching an infinitely stretchy arm through various levels and obstacles, grabbing and dropping objects along the way. To make things trickier, Grab the Bottle brings physics and puzzles to the mix as you must grab, pull, and drop objects in your path to get to the bottle… so go get it!

Games

June 22, 2018

A dynamic, fast-paced platforming with a unique dash, morphing and time mechanics including three campaigns spread across 150 normal and New Game+ levels introducing new hazards at each corner. Are you ready to face Mama Worm, Blackbird’s Kraken and Sheeple all at once?! Happy sliming!

Games

June 22, 2018

Battle Knights is a retro-inspired, challenging platformer. Play as the blue knight, Wonder, who is on a quest to unite the colored realms through a series of challenges as he attacks, blocks, and jumps his way across a variety of game modes. Features a co-op story mode and a number of versus mode competitive challenges.

Games

June 22, 2018

Yet Another Zombie Defense HD is a top-down arcade zombie shooter with tactical/strategy elements. Prepare yourself before the night falls, build defensive barricades, buy guns and ammo, set up turrets and stay alive if you can as each successive night increasing in challenge to put your skills to the test.

At last year’s E3, we went hands-on with an earlier version of Ashen, an adventure game that aims to blend the difficulty of Dark Souls with the mystery of a dark fantasy tale. Featuring a co-op mechanic that allows you to join a friend on an adventure – or with an AI stand-in if no one is available – it was great to see more of the game at this year’s E3 and how its world, lore, and quest system have all started to expand, creating an even more intriguing and complex adventure that we’re looking forward to playing more of when the game launches day and date on Xbox Game Pass later this year.

One of the more striking things I appreciate from the game’s simple, direct, and low-poly character design is that of the blank face, making you a faceless pawn caught up in a larger adventure which will eventually define you. It’s a uniqueness that helps give Ashen an identity, but not necessarily giving one to the player. There are options when creating your adventure to adjust their skin tone, facial hair, and other identifiable markers — but the blank, eyeless, mouthless face remains.

For this year’s E3 build, we were able to sample the quest system that’s being built into the game that can involve tasks such as item retrieval or dispatching an enemy. The map system allows you to easily track these quests with a simple and direct interface, as well as a compass indicator on the top of the screen to help send you in the right direction without having to constantly refer to your map, allowing you to take in more of the polygon forest and its numerous enemies who wish to do you harm.

Combat in Ashen is very Dark Souls-esc: keep your shield up, dodge roll away from enemy attacks, take your time to see their swing pattern and strike them down. Your character controls are refined and responsive, with appropriate weight applied to both your strong and light attacks on enemy combatants. Knowing which to use and when is a learned experience that comes in time.

The primary quest for this demo early on was to retrieve a hammer for a one-armed giant who needed to use it to set off a spark, activating a stone pillar that works as the games respawn/checkpoint system should you fall in battle. And fall we did.

Again, like the Souls games, you have the chance to respawn item-less with the chance to retrieve your goods by retracing your steps and re-engaging with enemies in their original spawned positions. A harsh lesson-learning process as you fight your foes once again with the shared and accumulated knowledge of failure.

Further into our demo, we re-entered the dark and ominous giant spider-filled cave we experienced last year. This area of the map also allowed us to see some of Ashen’s impressive lighting effects as we descended into the cave, holding a lantern in our off-hand. Still, even with a passing familiarity of what was lying in wait, the giant, acid-spitting spiders still got the best of me, sending me back above ground, arriving back at the respawn shrine with the pull of “just one more try” becoming ever stronger the longer I played Ashen.

The pull will have to wait until next time when we have a chance to play more of Ashen when it comes to Xbox One. Be sure to keep it tuned to Xbox Wire throughout the year to learn more about this game and many others coming soon to your favorite console.

This weekend, June 16 – 17, Series 1 of the Forza Racing Championship (ForzaRC) 2018 heads into its final lap with the ForzaRC 2018 Series 1 Playoffs. Broadcast live from Seattle, home of Turn 10 Studios, some of the best drivers from around the world will compete for the title of Series 1 Champion, a $75,000 prize pool and the opportunity to move a step closer to the Forza Racing World Championship 2018 this October.

We’ve got an exciting weekend of racing lined up with competition beginning tomorrow, June 16 at 9 a.m. PDT with the first day of playoffs. Throughout the day, drivers will race their way through the quarterfinals and into the semi-finals, with the field narrowed to just 12 drivers by the end of the day. The playoffs will continue for these drivers on Sunday, June 17 at 11 a.m. PDT as they head into the finals. Tune in all weekend to catch the action live, unlock in-game rewards and influence the day’s races through in-stream voting on our Mixer stream at watch.ForzaRC.com.

In addition to the weekend’s racing competition we’ve got even more excitement lined up for those tuning in:

Celebrating 24 Hours of Le Mans

As many racing fans will know, this week is host to the Automobile Club de l’Ouest’s (ACO), 24 Hours of Le Mans. In celebration, we’ll be putting a spotlight on the famous track during our Series 1 Playoffs. Famed for its raw speed and punishing effects on drivers in the world’s most famous endurance race, Le Mans will prove to be a test for all of the ForzaRC competitors. For those not familiar with the track, we have a special introduction hosted by legendary motorsport broadcaster, ForzaRC guest commentator, and “Voice of Le Mans” John Hindhaugh as well.

Special Guest Panel

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to have a career in esports or to be a professional streamer? How about starting your own streaming or esports career? Tune into our Mixer stream at watch.ForzaRC.com on Sunday, June 17, as special guests Celeste Anderson, Trisha Hershberger, and Steve “SuperGT” Brown join us, live on stage, to speak to these questions and more.

Voting and Rewards

Tune in to the playoffs livestream at watch.forzarc.com and you’ll have the chance to directly impact which cars and tracks are used during the event. Will you choose day or night? Sunshine or rain? The Ford or the Audi? The choice is yours (and the rest of chat) to make!

Anyone tuning in during the livestream at watch.ForzaRC.com will also have the chance to unlock awesome in-game rewards for Forza Motorsport 7. Just log into your account and participate in the in-stream quests to unlock a variety of in-game gear, including the new ForzaRC 2018 Series 1 Playoffs driver suit!

For those tuning in to ForzaRC for the first time and looking to catch up on all the excitement before the playoffs, check out the Series 1 recap on the official ForzaRC YouTube channel.

Participate in ForzaRC 2018

Interested in joining the competition? It’s not too late! Visit ForzaRC.com to register and you’ll be ready to compete when ForzaRC 2018 Series 2 begins on July 9! Not quite ready to compete at the ranked level? No problem, we’ve got activities for drivers of all skill levels in Forza Motorsport 7 with more to come all season long.

Catch every minute of this action-packed event beginning tomorrow, June 16 at 9 a.m. PDT and Sunday, June 17 at 11 a.m. PDT on our Mixer stream at watch.forzarc.com. For more information, head over to ForzaRC.com and follow us on Twitter for the latest news and updates. We hope to see you there!

Jurassic World Evolution launched this week for Xbox One and in this post I’d like to give you a helping hand taking care of your dinosaurs.

Back in “Jurassic Park,” way back in 1993, Ray Arnold said that Jurassic Park had all the complications of a theme park and a zoo, and that’s the challenge you face when you first start developing your islands. Of course, Jurassic World is no ordinary zoo, and the creatures you’ll bioengineer and (try to) contain on the Las Cinco Muertes islands are deadlier and more challenging than any modern animal.

The first task is to keep the dinosaurs healthy, and top of the list is their hunger and thirst. If you don’t satisfy those basic needs then the dinosaur will eventually lose consciousness and die. Luckily these two needs are relatively easy to meet by making sure that the dinosaur can access suitable feeders and pools of water. It’s a good idea to drop a feeder in an area your guests can see so they’ll have a better chance to see your amazing dinosaurs up close.

Diseases can also affect health, and each island introduces new diseases that can spread like wildfire among your dino population. Different dinosaur species are susceptible or immune to different diseases, and cures for each disease need to be researched before your ranger teams can medicate any sick dinosaurs. Dead dinosaurs can be a potent source of disease, so clearing their bodies is essential for the health and wellbeing of your living creatures. Dinosaurs can also be poisoned through acts of sabotage, and antidotes must be researched. Get a head start on this job in case a disgruntled employee sabotages your park.

Beyond basic health, the comfort of the dinosaur is a more complicated challenge that balances various requirements in their environmental or social needs. Each species has differing environmental concerns. Some prefer open grassland while others prefer the cover of forest to keep them safe. As well as the composition of the environment, how much space is available (either grassland or forest) is an important factor; remember very large dinosaurs like our sauropods – including the fearsome T. rex – require large expanses of land to be comfortable.

Tailoring an enclosure for a single species is relatively straightforward while mixing species becomes harder but can be rewarding, allowing you to get ‘more bang for your buck’ and give your guests access to lots of dinosaurs in a single paddock. Some dinosaurs – especially herbivores like the Parasaurolophus – prefer to live in large herds and tolerate mixing well. As well as others of their own kind, many dinosaurs require the company of other species.

But dinosaurs that do not live near their ideal social group numbers will soon become agitated and may fight or attempt to escape. Of course, some dinosaurs are loners or prefer small social groups. It’s up to you to experiment with paddock composition, but I recommend keeping the carnivores away from the herbivores.

Oh, and remember – dinosaurs hate storms.

Maintaining the dinosaurs comfort is key to building a successful park. Jurassic World Evolution is a complex but accessible systemic game with dinosaurs that think, feel and react to the world you build around them. Nature can’t be contained indefinitely, and as Dr. Ian Malcolm says: ‘life finds a way’.

I hope you’ll find your own way to tame the chaos of Jurassic World, and maybe achieve something we’ve never seen in the “Jurassic Park” movies – a park that works!

One of the newest members of the Microsoft development family, Compulsion Games has been working on the dystopian action adventure We Happy Few for quite some time. What began as a procedural roguelike has morphed into a much more narrative-driven experience, and considering its fascinating backdrop, hilarious dialogue, and menacing enemies, that was a wise decision.

Having recently played a 45-minute demo of the reworked game, we came away excited at its potential, enamored with its writing, and slightly creeped out by its unsettling characters.

Set in an alternate version of 1960s England, We Happy Few tells the intertwining tale of three rebellious citizens trying to escape from the city of Wellington Wells. A drug called Joy has been forced upon the populace, turning otherwise pleasant peasants into stressed-out sheep cowering under an authoritarian regime.

We played as former journalist Arthur Hastings, who awakens from a Joy hangover to find himself lost in Wellington’s maintenance tunnels. After making our way out, we emerged in the colorful and seemingly tranquil district of Barrow Holm. Dotted with abandoned homes, Barrow Holm is a fully explorable, open-world area, underscored by a sense of desolation and sorrow.

We retrieved a map at the top of a lookout tower, directing us to a buried treasure a few yards away. We picked flowers that we could eventually craft into helpful items and wandered through the remnants of the district’s former inhabitants. A nightmarish stuffed animal tea party sits in the middle of a field. Children’s toys are strewn about, dirtied and torn. Despite the cheery colors, something very, very bad happened here. Picking up tidbits of narrative, we eventually bumped into a resident who offered us a way out of Barrow Holm in exchange for a few items required to operate a gate.

The demo shifted gears here, as we were asked to infiltrate the well-guarded camp of a local gang. We Happy Few doesn’t shy away from action; after sneaking into camp, we were caught red-handed and thrust into a ridiculous, makeshift fighting pit where we learned the ins and outs of We Happy Few’s melee combat. Grabbing a large stick, we went mano a mano against a frightened fellow named Danny Dafoe. Danny turned out to be a former co-worker still angry at us for making fun of his lousy writing; given the choice between a non-lethal club or a decidedly deadly pointy stick, we went with the club. Danny might have been a jerk at work, but he didn’t deserve to die.

Or perhaps he did? It’s up to the player to make these sorts of decisions in We Happy Few, each having ramifications the further you press on. We weren’t as kind to the remaining guards, using a combination of stealth and straight-up roughhousing to take out the baddies, steal the requested items, and hightail it back to the gate.

Our next stop was a dilapidated village overrun with aggressive locals (colloquially called “wastrels”) strung out on Joy. Starved and wearing tattered clothing, the wastrels didn’t take kindly to our fancy duds. Only after finding a few key ingredients could we properly dirty up our suit and conform, though not before accidentally (and optionally) throwing down with a few wastrels guarding a treasure chest.

Ultimately, we opened the gate and made our way to the train station, though getting there required a combination of smart stealthing and plenty of fleeing. Taking on multiple enemies at once isn’t a great idea in We Happy Few, especially when they have billy clubs and you have an (admittedly sharp) umbrella. But fight we did, until we entered the train station.

As we tussled with more guards, we endured several flashbacks about our lost brother Percy, regretting our decision to leave him in the clutches of the authorities to save our own skin. We also meet the gruff, potty-mouthed Ollie, who has taken up residence in the train station and is defending his position from wastrels. When we finally reach him, it’s revealed that Ollie is an old neighbor who may be our only way out of this deranged town.

We still have a million questions about We Happy Few. What was life like before the occupation? What made neighbor turn on neighbor? How in the world did the world get like this? The demo hints at life before wartime, but with two more playable characters and over 20 hours of story in front of us, there’s a lot more discover when this strange, well-written game finally arrives on Xbox One August 18.